A Thousand Days in Tuscany

American chef and author of A Thousand Days in Venice moves to rural Tuscany, where she and her husband discover village secrets of food, life, and love.Searching for the rhythms of country living, American chef Marlena de Blasi and her Venetian husband, Fernando, move to a barely renovated former stable in Tuscany. They dwell among two hundred villagers, ancient olive groves, and hot Etruscan springs. In this patch of earth where Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio collide, there is much to feed de Blasi's two passions-food and love. In A Thousand Days in Tuscany, de Blasi brings us along as she and Fernando harvest grapes, gather chestnuts, forage for wild mushrooms, and climb trees in the cold of December to pick olives, one by one.They befriend the mesmeric Barlozzo, a self-styled village chieftain whose stories lead de Blasi deeper into the soul of Tuscany. Together they visit sacred festivals and taste just-pressed olive oil, drizzled over roasted country bread. In a cauldron set over a wood fire, they braise beans in red wine, and a stew of wild boar simmers overnight in the ashes of their hearth. Barlozzo shares his knowledge of Italian farming traditions and ancient health potions, but he has secrets he doesn't share, and one of them concerns the beautiful Floriana, whose illness teaches Marlena that happiness is truly a choice.Like the pleasurable tastes and textures of a fine meal, A Thousand Days in Tuscany is as satisfying as it is enticing. The author's own recipes are included.

American chef Marlena de Blasi and her Venetian husband, Fernando, married rather late in life. In search of the rhythms of country living, the couple moves to a barely renovated former stable in Tuscany with no phone, no central heating, and something resembling a playhouse kitchen. They dwell among two hundred villagers, ancient olive groves, and hot Etruscan springs. In this patch of earth where Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio collide, there is much to feed de Blasi's two passions--food and love. We accompany the couple as they harvest grapes, gather chestnuts, forage for wild mushrooms, and climb trees in the cold of December to pick olives, one by one. Their routines are not that different from those of villagers centuries earlier.They are befriended by the mesmeric Barlozzo, a self-styled village chieftain. His fascinating stories lead de Blasi more deeply inside the soul of Tuscany. Together they visit sacred festivals and taste just-pressed olive oil, drizzled over roasted country bread, and squash blossoms, battered and deep-fried and sprayed with sea-salted water. In a cauldron set over a wood fire, they braise beans in red wine, and a stew of wild boar simmers overnight in the ashes of their hearth. Barlozzo shares his knowledge of Italian farming traditions, ancient health potions, and artisanal food makers, but he has secrets he doesn't share, and one of them concerns the beautiful Floriana, whose illness teaches Marlena that happiness is truly a choice.Like the pleasurable tastes and textures of a fine meal, A Thousand Days in Tuscany is as satisfying as it is enticing. The author's own recipes are included.

Contents PROLOGUE 1 Summer 1 The Gorgeous Things They're Cooking Are Zucchini Blossoms 7 2 Figs and Apples Threaded on Strings 30 3 The Valley Is Safe, and We Will Bake Bread 64 4 Are You Making a Mattress Stuffed with Rosemary? 81 5 Sit the Chicken in a Roasting Pan on a Pretty Bed of Turnips and Onions, Leeks and Carrots 90 Fall 6 Vendemmiamo--Let's Pick Those Grapes 105 7 Dolce e Salata, Sweet and Salty--Because That's How Life Tastes to Me 124 8 Now These Are Chestnut Trees 150 9 Do Tuscans Drink Wine at Every Meal? 170 Winter 10 Perhaps as a Genus, Olives Know Too Much 195 11 December Has Come to Live in the Stable 218 12 Supper Made from Almost Nothing 248 13 Fasting Was How We Were Living Anyway 264 Spring 14 Virtuous Drenches 293 15 Florì and I Are Shelling Peas 303 16 The First of the Zucchini Blossoms Are Up 314 Recipes Deep-Fried Flowers, Vegetables, and Herbs 28 The Holy Ghost's Cherries 62Schiacciata Toscana, Tuscan Flatbread (or "Squashed" Breads) 79 Winemaker's Sausages Roasted with Grapes 120Fagioli al Fiasco sotto le Cenere, Beans Braised in a Bottle under the Cinders 122 Braised Pork to Taste Like Wild Boar 147 Castagnaccio 192 The One and Only True Bruschetta (brew-sket'-ah)What It Is and How to Pronounce It 247 A Tasting of Pecorino Cheeses with Chestnut Honey 301